Does Labour Market Discriminate Against the Scheduled Castes? Empirical Evidence from Rural Punjab, India

Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes are the two most marginalized sections of Indian society that suffered discrimination through the ages. The government of India since independence has adopted various policy measures to remove the atrocities and discrimination against them. The present study attempts to understand whether or not the Scheduled Castes in rural Punjab continue to suffer from economic discrimination on account of their social attribute—caste—even after seven decades of independence. The nature of caste-based economic discrimination in the labour market of rural Punjab is examined using NSSO’s employment-unemployment data. The analyses support the existence of differences in occupational choices and wage differential among the caste groups. The SC households earn relatively low wages than the non-SC in rural Punjab. The SC workers are engaged in low-status and low-rewarding traditional caste occupations. The probability of SC workers choosing casual work is relatively greater than that of non-SC workers in rural Punjab.